The 2d Marine Division is the direct descendant of the 2d Marine Brigade, which was activated o n 1 July 1936 at San Diego, California. Within a year of its activation, the brigade was called upon t o reinforce the 4th Marines in China, when unstable conditions threatened American lives and property in Shanghai's International Settlement . Arriving in Shanghai on 19 September 1937, the brigade occupied defensive positions within the American sec tor of the international zone . When the immediate threat to American lives had passed, the brigade,

less the 4th Marines, was withdrawn and redeployed to California during February-April 1938 . As the prospect of war increased during 1940 , the Marine Corps expanded . An immediate reflection of this increase in strength was the creation o f division-sized organizations . Accordingly, the 2 d Marine Division was officially activated 1 February 1941 at Camp Elliott near San Diego, California , dropping its earlier designation as the 2d Marin e Brigade . Major General Clayton B . Vogel becam e the first commanding general of the division . By

2d Division Marines prepare to advance toward the front lines in trucks captured from Japanese forces in the midst of the intense fighting on Guadalcanal in December 1942.
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late spring of 1941, the division consisted of thre e infantry regiments, the 2d, 6th, and 8th Marines ; a n artillery regiment, the 10th Marines ; service, medical, and engineer battalions ; and transport, service , tank, signal, chemical, and antiaircraft machine gu n companies . Each of the three infantry regiments in the ne w division brought a wealth of Marine Corps comba t tradition . The 2d Marines had landed at Veracruz , Mexico, in 1914, and at Haiti in 1915 . The 6th Marines had fought in France during World War I , and had seen action in the Dominican Republi c and Cuba in 1924 . The 8th Marines had manne d the Texas border during 1917-1918, and had fough t in Haiti during the early 1920s . As the threat of war intensified, the 6th Marines ; the 2d Battalion, 10th Marines ; and reinforcin g tank, medical, service, and engineering unit s formed the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade . They sailed for Iceland during May and June 1941 t o counter the threat of an anticipated German invasion . The 2d Engineer Battalion was similarl y detached and sent to Hawaii in the fall of 1941 , where it helped to defend Pearl Harbor during th e Japanese attack of 7 December.

Marines assault a bomb proof shelter just off the beach at'1arawa on 20 November 1943 .
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Immediately after the outbreak of war, the 2 d Marine Division, in conjunction with U .S . Army units, was assigned the mission of defending th e California coast against possible Japanese invasion . Similarly, the 8th Marines, reinforced by other unit s from the division, was designated part of a new 2 d Marine Brigade, which sailed from San Diego on 6 January 1942 to assume the defense of American Samoa . After the immediate danger of invasion ha d passed, the division was relieved of its defensiv e duties, and began the task of reforming into a n amphibious assault organization . The 9th Marine s became part of the division for a few months . O n 1 April 1942, the 6th Marines, back from Iceland , rejoined the division . By late summer of 1942, the 2d Marine Divisio n was ready to participate in the first United State s ground offensive of World War II—the Guadalcana l campaign . In early August 1942 the 2d Marines , along with supporting elements and 1st Marine

Division units, landed on Tulagi, Gavutu, an d Florida Islands, distinguishing themselves in bitte r fighting during the opening days of the Guadalcanal operation . The 8th Marines arrived o n Guadalcanal early in November 1942, and the 6t h Marines in January 1943 . Now fighting for the firs t time as a full division, the 2d Marine Division, in conjunction with Army units, succeeded in drivin g the Japanese back to the westernmost part of th e island . Combat operations on Guadalcanal included tank-infantry attacks and point-blank artiller y fire, along with grenade and small arms assaults . Organized enemy resistance collapsed early in February 1943 . By the end of that month, all unit s of the 2d Marine Division (with the exception o f the 3d Battalion, 18th Marines, and the Seabee bat talion of the engineer regiment) embarked fo r New Zealand, to begin eight months of rehabilitation and retraining. The 2d Marine Division, commanded by Majo r

A 2d Marine Division patrol, using a demolition charge, flushes out a stubborn Japanese soldier during the rugged fighting on Saipan on 24 June 1944.
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Marines from the 2d Division wade ashore on Tinian in late July 1944 . General Julian C . Smith, opened the drive throug h the Central Pacific with an assault on Betio Islan d at Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands, in the early morning hours of 20 November 1943 . The ensuing 76 hours at Tarawa saw some of the fiercest fighting in Marine Corps history. Withering defensive fire from Japanese machine guns and mortar s inflicted heavy Marine casualties during the landing, making it difficult to secure a toehold . O n D+1, the Marines began to move inland . Despite intense resistance, Betio was secured by 2 3 November. Five days later the entire atoll was i n friendly hands. The battle for Tarawa was the firs t real Navy and Marine Corps test of amphibiou s assault doctrine and techniques, which would b e refined during subsequent operations in th e Pacific . At Tarawa, the 2d Marine Division suffere d more than 3,000 casualties . In December 1943, th e last elements of the division sailed from Tarawa to rejoin the parent unit now located on the island o f Hawaii . On Hawaii, the 2d Marine Division began intensive training to prepare for its next operation . By early May 1944, the division learned that its next mission, in conjunction with the 4th Marine Division and the U.S . Army's 27th Infantry Division, would be the assault and seizure of Saipa n and Tinian in the Mariana Islands. The capture of the Marianas was central to allied strategy in th e Central Pacific campaign . The islands would pro vide air and sea bases to bring the war directly t o Japan . On 15 June 1944, assault waves of the 6th an d 8th Marines landed on the southwestern beache s of Saipan, against moderate resistance . Japanese mortar fire began to build up, however, as th e defenders reacted to the initial landings . The Marines pushed steadily forward against stiffenin g resistance . The remaining elements of the 2d an d 4th Marine Divisions were landed on the followin g day. Later, the Marines would encounter a syste m of well-defended caves and a last-ditch Japanes e counterattack, but after three weeks of fighting , the island was declared secure on 9 July 1944 . Th e seizure of Saipan led to construction of the first base in the Pacific for B-29 bombing missions against the Japanese home islands . On 24 July 1944, elements of the 2d Marin e Division conducted a successful offshore feint nea r Tinian Town, while units of the 4th Marine Divisio n

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landed on the northwest beaches ofTinian . The 2d Marine Division landed on the following day an d joined forces with the 4th Marine Division to eliminate Japanese resistance from the southern end o f the island . After elements of the 2d Marin e Division successfully repulsed Japanese banza i attacks on 1 August, organized resistance on the island ceased . The 2d Marine Division units returned to Saipan to resume mopping-up operations . On 27 March 1945, the division left Saipa n to take part in the battle for the Ryukyus . The landings on Okinawa began on 1 Apri l 1945 . The 2d Marine Division was employed as a floating reserve that made feints along the south ern approaches to Okinawa. The unopposed main landings were made by Marines and units of the U.S . Tenth Army on the north-central beaches . The 2d Marine Division remained at sea until 11 April , when it returned to Saipan after sending Seabees and amphibian trucks ashore . In mid-May, during the course of the Ryukyu s campaign, the 2d Marine Division had to furnis h units to seize two small islands, Iheya and Aguni,

located near Okinawa. A task force composed of the 8th Marines ; the 2d Battalion, 10th Marines ; and other supporting units, made an unopposed landing on lheya on 3 June . The island was secured th e following day. Aguni was taken on 9 June, again without opposition . The same task force was redeployed several days later to Okinawa . It was place d under the operational control of the 1st Marin e Division for the final drive of the Ryukyus campaign . After completing mop-up operations o n Okinawa, all 2d Marine Division units were redeployed to Saipan by mid July 1945 . The end of hostilities in September 1945 did no t signal the end of the 2d Marine Division's role i n the Pacific . From September 1945 until June 1946 , the division took part in the occupation of Japan , primarily on the island of Kyushu . In July 1946, th e division finally relocated to Camp Lejeune, Nort h Carolina . At greatly reduced strength, it settled int o a peacetime routine . During the first few postwar years, the division conducted training exercises and maneuvers in the Atlantic and on the East Coast of the United States .
Department of Defense Photo (USMC) A13977 4

2d Division Marines on a street in Nagasaki on 23 September 1945 during the occupation ofJapan .

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Department of Defense Photo (USMC)A17500

A 2d Marine Division machine gun crew is positioned on a rooftop in the dock area of Beirut, Lebanon, on 23 July 1958, alert for any contingency that might arise . In February 1948, the 8th Marines, then at one-bat talion strength, sailed for the Mediterranean i n response to developing crises in Greece an d Turkey. This marked the beginning of a series o f forward afloat deployments with the Sixth Flee t that continues to this day. Throughout this period , the 2d Marine Division has provided landing teams and Marine air-ground task forces for service in the Caribbean as well . The 2d Marine Division's role as a force-in-readi ness was tested by the outbreak of war in Korea, i n June 1950 . Many of the division's personnel were integrated into units of the understrength 1s t Marine Division through redesignations and uni t transfers to the West Coast, but the 2d Marin e Division itself was also brought up quickly to wartime strength . After an intensive training pro gram, it was pronounced ready for any assignment , but did not deploy to Korea . The division's combat readiness would next b e tested during the summer of 1958 . On 14 July, three reinforced battalions from the 2d Marine Division, which were then afloat in the Mediterranea n with the Sixth Fleet, were ordered into Lebanon . Units of the division were ashore on the beaches o f Lebanon within hours of the decision to land, an d were joined several days later by air-transporte d elements of the 2d Battalion, 8th Marines, fro m Camp Lejeune, North Carolina . Remaining in Lebanon until October, the Marines in and aroun d Beirut helped to maintain political stability, to preserve law and order, and to protect American live s and property. In all, more than 6,000 Marines were committed to the 1958 Lebanon operation, in con junction with U.S. Army units . The division's ability to respond decisively in a n emergency situation was tested again barely fou r years later. The Cuban missile crisis of Octobe r

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Department of Defense Photo (USMC) A1947 8

Marines of the 2d Division storm ashore in combat gear on Onslow Beach at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, in an amphibious landing exercise during February 1964. 1962 brought the deployment of most of the 2 d Marine Division to Guantanamo Bay and the waters off Cuba . Remaining in the Caribbean unti l early December, the division had once agai n demonstrated its ability to respond to short-notic e embarkation orders with speed and efficiency . The chaotic conditions created by a Communist-inspired coup in the Dominican Republi c during April 1965 led to American intervention . Marines went ashore and entered the capital city of Santo Domingo to protect the lives of American citizens, and to assist in the evacuation of refugees . Units of the division—in all, four reinforced battalions—helped more than 1,300 evacuees durin g the six-week mission in the Dominican Republic . During the 1970s, the 2d Marine Division con ducted comprehensive training programs t o increase combat efficiency and to maintain th e capability of responding rapidly to emergencies . Amphibious exercises, many involving Nort h Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies, were held routinely throughout the Caribbean, th e Atlantic, and the Mediterranean . The division' s units received rigorous combined arms trainin g under live fire conditions at the Marine Air-Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms, California ; cold weather and mountain warfare training in the Sierra Nevadas ; and jungle warfare training in Panama, among other opportunities . The 2d Marine Division's ability to meet the fas t breaking challenges of an uncertain world has continued to be tested through an unending series o f alerts, evacuations, and other non-routine deployments. From the summer of 1982, through earl y 1984, division units served on a rotating basis a s peacekeeping forces in Lebanon, accepting th e hazards inherent in such a mission with courag e and professionalism . In October 1983, as well, th e division provided the ground combat element fo r the Marine landing force that took part in a deftly executed, short-notice intervention in Grenada . Throughout the remainder of the decade, th e

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Department of Defense Photo (USN) DN-ST-84-0 t 28 2

Men of the 2d Marine Division arrive at vacate d buildings of the Lebanese Scientific University i n February 1983 to take up watch positions in th e northern portion of the 22d Marine Amphibiou s Unit's perimeter around Beirut International Airport. division and its regiments conducted numerou s training operations to maintain a high level of preparedness . From December 1989 to January 1990 , elements of the division participated in Operatio n Just Cause, a joint operation with the U .S . Army, Navy, and Air Force which helped to restore orde r and democracy in the Central American nation of Panama . The 2 August 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwai t threatened the stability of the entire Persian Gulf region . President George H . Bush ordered th e deployment of U .S . Armed Forces to the region, to prevent a possible Iraqi invasion of neighborin g Saudi Arabia . As the 2d Marine Division prepare d to deploy to the Persian Gulf, the Secretary o f Defense authorized the Marine Corps to call up 15,000 reservists . Increments of mobilized Re serve units soon began to arrive at Camp Lejeune for processing and integration into the active forces . On 18 November, the 2d Marine Division received the expected orders to deploy to th e Kuwait theater of operations .

After an elaborate 10 December review at Cam p Lejeune, the main body of the division began it s movement to Saudi Arabia . The 2d Marine Divisio n formally established its presence in Saudi Arabia o n 14 December 1990, with the arrival of it s Commanding General, Major General William M . Keys. Over the next several weeks, units continue d to arrive and join the division . The division's main command post arrived in the vicinity of Al Kibri t on 14 January, with other elements arriving as late as the 24th. The division began immediate training an d preparation for mechanized operations and th e breaching of Iraqi minefields . On 10 January 1991 . , the U.S . Army's 1st Brigade, 2d Armored Divisio n (the "Tiger Brigade"), reported to operational control of the 2d Marine Division, and would prove t o be of great benefit during the ensuing campaign . With the arrival of this important brigade, the division's assembly in theater was complete . By the end of January, the division had begu n planning for movement to final assembly area s and, on 27 January, conducted its first offensiv e operation with an artillery raid against Iraqi positions . By 19 February the division had complete d its move to Al Khanjar in preparation for the majo r allied coalition assault into Kuwait and Iraq . At HHour on 24 February, division engineers blew lane s across enemy minefields, which cleared the si x lanes necessary for the passage of 2d Marin e Division units . After breaking through the obstacles, the division fanned out towards Al Jabe r Airfield . Enemy opposition was initially light, consisting mostly of intermittent shelling. On 25 and 26 February, Iraqi armored counterattacks hit th e right flank of the division, and were defeated wit h heavy enemy losses . Through the execution of rapid maneuver an d the skillful application of firepower, Iraqi force s were soon overwhelmed. By outflanking th e enemy and destroying their heavy equipment wit h air and artillery fire, the division gave the Iraqis th e choice of surrendering or dying where they stood . In the thousands, they chose the former. By 27 February, the division had consolidated its positions outside of Al Jahrah and Al Kuwait, an d cleared the last pockets of Iraqi resistance . On 2 8 February, a ceasefire was ordered . During the 100 hours of combat in which the 2d Marine Division was engaged, it amassed a n impressive amount of enemy equipment an d troops : more than 13,000 prisoners taken and 53 3 tanks, 127 artillery pieces, 291 armored personne l

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Department of Defense Photo (USMC) DM-SC-92-0121 1

An infantryman of the 2d Marine Division mans a fighting hole as part of a drill at the division combat operations center in Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Storm. carriers, and 45 pieces of antiaircraft artillery either destroyed or captured. It was truly an impressive achievement . Elements of the division remained in Southwest Asia to participate i n Operation Provide Comfort, which provided disaster relief and established security zones fo r Kurdish refugees in Iraq. The bulk of the division began its redeployment from the Gulf in April , receiving a well-deserved welcome home at Cam p Lejeune . During the immediate post-Desert Storm years , and throughout the remainder of the decade, elements of the 2d Marine Division participated i n military operations and humanitarian missions i n areas as diverse as Liberia (Operation Sharp Edge), Haiti (Operation Support Democracy), Somali a (Operation Restore Hope), and Cuba (Operatio n Sea Signal) in support of American interests a t home and abroad . These operations provide d humanitarian support, non-combatant evacuations , and in the instance of Haiti, helped to restore democracy and rebuild the nation . Closer to home ; elements of the division participated during 1993 94 in Operations Able Manner and Able Vigil, whic h supported the interdiction of Haitian and Cuba n migrants in the Florida Straits . The 2d Marine Division has also supported continuedAmerican foreign policy interests in Europe . During the last years of the decade, elements of th e division participated in support of NATO operations in Bosnia, and later Albania and Kosovo, a s ethnic strife in the former Yugoslavia threatene d the stability of Eastern Europe . A mechanized patrol of Battalion Landing Tea m 3/8 halts to interact with children in Gnjilane , Kosovo, in July 1999.
Photo courtesy of Maj Nathan S . Lowrey, USMCR

1941 - 195 7 REDESIGNATED 1 FEBRUARY 1941 AS THE 2D MARINE DIVISION , FLEET MARINE FORC E ELEMENTS DEPLOYED TO ICELAND,JULY 1941 -MARCH 194 2 DEPLOYED TO THE SOUTH PACIFIC DURING JANUARY 1942 - JANUARY 194 3 PARTICIPATED IN THE FOLLOWING WORLD WAR II CAMPAIGN S GUADALCANA L SOUTHERN SOLOMONS TARAW A SAIPAN TINIAN OKINAW A DEPLOYED DURING SEPTEMBER 1945 TO NAGASAKI, JAPAN PARTICIPATED IN THE OCCUPATION OF JAPAN, SEPTEMBER 1945 - JUNE 194 6 RELOCATED DURING JUNE JULY 1946 TO CAMP LEJEUNE, NORTH CAROLINA

THE 2D MARINE DIVISION PATCH
THE 2D MARINE DIVISION SHOULDER PATCH WAS AUTHORIZED FOR WEAR BY UNITS WHICH SERVE D WITH OR WERE ATTACHEDTOTHE DIVISION IN THE PACIFIC DURING WORLD WAR II . DESIGNED AN D APPROVED IN LATE 1943,THE INSIGNIA IS IN THE OFFICIAL MARINE CORPS COLORS OF SCARLET AN D GOLD. THE INSIGNIA DISPLAYS A SPEARHEAD-SHAPED SCARLET BACKGROUND WITH A HAND HOLD ING ALOFT A LIGHTED GOLD TORCH . A SCARLET NUMERAL "2" [S SUPERIMPOSED UPON THE TORCH , AND THE TORCH AND HAND IS ENCIRLED BY FIVE WHITE STARS IN THE ARRANGEMENT OF TH E SOUTHERN CROSS CONSTELLATION, UNDER WHICH THE DIVISION'S FIRST WORLD WAR II COMBA T TOOK PLACE-AT GUADALCANAL . THE WEARING OF UNIT SHOULDER PATCHES BY MARINES WAS DIS CONTINUED IN 1947 .

The 2d Marines

The 2d Marines was orginally activated on 1 9 June 1913 as the 1st Advance Base Regiment a t Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, under the command o f lieutenant Colonel Charles G. Long . The uni t became part of the Advance Base Brigade in Dec ember 1913 and was redesignated the 1st Regi -

ment,Advance Base Brigade, on 18 February 1914 . The regiment had participated in a number of training maneuvers in Puerto Rico, Florida, an d Louisiana when political conditions began to deteriorate in Mexico . Marine Corps forces were ordered to land at Veracruz after President Woodrow

Wilson received word that a German merchan t ship was going there with a cargo of arms . On 2 2 April 1914, the 1st Regiment landed at Veracru z and joined other forces in clearing the city . Two of the regiment's officers, Major Smedley D . Butler and Lieutenant Colonel Wendell C . Neville, who would later become 14th Commandant of the Marine Corps, received Medals of Honor for distinguished conduct in the battle . The regiment remained there as part of an occupation force for the next seven months, but with the advent of a new and stable government, left Veracruz on 2 3 November for Philadelphia . On 3 December 1914, the Advance Base Brigade was reorganized. The 1st Regiment, the fixed defense regiment, was assigned a fire control uni t and eight companies, which included four 5-inc h gun companies, a searchlight company, a min e company, an engineer company, and an antiaircraft company. The increase of firepower inherent in this reorganization strengthened the regiment' s capabilities for the further developments of the Marine Advance Base Force . By the summer of 1915, internal disorder an d revolution in the Republic of Haiti had becom e critical, jeopardizing American lives and property . On 15 August, the 1st Regiment landed at Cap Haitien, to begin a long period of occupation an d "bush"warfare . The regiment carried out extensiv e patrolling into the interior of the country, in searc h of Caco bandits . Gunnery Sergeant Daniel J. Daly received his second Medal of Honor for his out -

standing contribution to the success of these operations . The Marines had many encounters with th e Haitian rebels . These included the attack and capture of Fort Riviere on 17 November 1915, wher e Major Butler received his second Medal of Honor. Marines assaulted the old French bastion, locate d on the summit of Montagne Noir, and overwhelmed the enemy in the fort during a viciou s hand-to-hand fray. After the capture of Fort Riviere and other forts , Haiti became relatively stable . Even as the regiment continued to garrison a number of Haitia n towns, some of its rifle companies were sent to th e neighboring Dominican Republic . During th e early months of 1916, internal disorders there had threatened American lives and property . Afte r order had been restored, the regiment was redesignated as the 2d Regiment, 1st Brigade, on 1 July 1916 . Its primary activity then shifted to training of the newly formed Haitian Constabulary, as wel l as its own Marines . With the decrease in bandit activity, the 2 d Regiment spent the World War I years in routin e barracks duty in the tropics . By March 1919, however, rebellions had erupted again in Haiti . The 2 d Regiment took to the field, as the native gendarmerie failed to contain the increasing disorder. During May, the regiment mounted a concerted drive to clear the country of bandits . Within a few months, it had mopped up most rebel strongholds . The next decade in Haiti was relatively peaceful . The 2d Regiment continued to perform dutie s

Instruction with compasses was part of many routine field training exercises conducted by the 63 d Company, 2d Regiment, while stationed in Haiti during January 192 6

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that included training and supervising the native constabulary, patrolling and mapping, and quellin g political disturbances . On 1 January 1933, as part of a Marine Corps-wide redesignation of units, th e 2d Regiment was redesignated as the 2d Marine s and assigned to the 1st Brigade . Slightly more than a year later, the 1st Brigade left Haiti, and the 2 d Marines was disestablished on 15 August 1934 . The regiment was reactivated 1 February 1941 , at San Diego, California, as part of the 2d Marin e Division . Under the command of Colonel John M . Arthur, it deployed to Koro Island on 25 July 1942 , in time for the final rehearsal for the Guadalcana l landing . Although its mission was one of divisio n reserve, elements of the regiment landed on Florida Island on 7 August 1942, prior to the mai n assault on Guadalcanal, to support the Tulagi landing . Other elements landed on Gavutu an d Tanambogo, to reinforce units engaged in clearin g operations . Two infantry battalions of the regimen t landed on Tulagi on 9 August and secured the smal l islands in the area . On 29 October the 2d Marines moved to

Guadalcanal, to take part in the attack toward s Kokumbona . Through 11 January 1943, the regiment occupied several defensive positions withi n the Guadalcanal perimeter, reinforcing the fron t lines where most needed . It launched a final threeday offensive drive to the west of Point Cniz on 1 2 January, before reassembling in a reserve area . On 31 January 1943, the regiment left Guadalcanal fo r New Zealand, arriving in Wellington a few week s later. Here, for the next nine months, the 2d Marines would rest, train, and reorganize . The regiment sailed on 28 October 1943, for Efate, south of Espiritu Santo, for fmal rehearsals of the landing at Tarawa . On 20 November, under the command of Colonel David M . Shoup, the 2 d Marines assaulted Betio Island, the defensive bastion of the Japanese force on Tarawa Atoll . The assault waves mounted in amphibian tractor s crossed the large coral reef which surrounded th e island and moved steadily to shore . The 3d Battalion of the 2d Marines was the first unit to reach its assigned beach and gain a foothold . Lite r waves embarked in landing craft, had trouble cross Department of Defense Photo (USMC) AHSO1 6

2d Marines advancing on the city of Garapan during the assault on Saipan in June 1944 .

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Department of Defense Photo (USMC) A8767 5

Above, Col David M. Shoup at work on Tinia n Island in July 1944. Col Shoup, commanding officer of the 2d Marines during NovemberDecember 1943, was awarded a Medal of Honor for his heroic actions during the assault and capture of Tarawa in November. Below, infantrymen of the 2d Marines pause on a street in Nagasaki, Japan, in September 1945 .

ing the reef, and were forced to wade hundreds o f yards to shore under intense fire . Despite heav y losses, the landing force managed to secure Beti o within three days. Colonel Shoup was awarded the Medal of Honor. On 24 November the 2d Marines left Tarawa for Hawaii, where a new camp awaited it at Kamula . Here at Camp Tarawa, the regiment began the task of rehabilitation, reorganization, and intensiv e training for battles still ahead . Six months later i t left Hawaii for the attack on Saipan . Now under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Walter J. Stuart, the 2d Marines were to feint a diversionary landing on 15 June 1944 in the Tanapag area, the n to operate in support of the main landing force . Once ashore, the 2d Marines launched an attac k toward Garapan on 17 June . A week later, advancing against stiff enemy opposition, the regimen t reached the outskirts of Garapan . Here it remained,patrolling and consolidating its lines, while other elements of the division moved into positio n for a push northward . On 2 July the regimen t began its attack through Garapan, taking the tow n within two days . From 6 to 11 July, the 2d Marine s continued to advance, finally helping to compres s the enemy into a small area on the northern tip o f
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the island . Saipan was declared secure on 9 July, but isolated pockets of resistance kept mop-u p operations going until 23 July. On the following day, the 2d Marines conducte d another feint landing, this time off Tinian Town, in support of landing forces to the north. A day later, the regiment landed and advanced rapidly agains t sporadic enemy resistance to help capture th e island . After Tinian was declared secured on 1 August, the regiment once again began the task of mopping up . After the Tinian operation, the 2d Marine s returned to Saipan for rehabilitation and reorganization . The regiment remained there for the nex t seven months, training under semi-battle conditions, as Japanese stragglers continued to emerg e from the jungle long after the fighting was officially over. The 2d Marines sailed for Okinawa on 25 Marc h 1945, under the command of Colonel Richard M . Cutts, Jr. With other forces the regiment was agai n executing a diversionary landing when a Japanes e kamikaze smashed through one of the landin g ships, killing and wounding a number of Marines . After withdrawal of this diversionary force, the 2d

Marines returned to Saipan, once again for intensive training, in anticipation of landings on th e Japanese home islands . At the war's end the regiment landed at Nagasaki, for occupation duty. After nine months , the 2d Marines relocated to Camp Lejeune, Nort h Carolina, during June and July 1946 . By late 1946 the regiment had an advanced amphibious trainin g program underway, but on 19 November 1947, th e 2d Marines was reduced to battalion strength, with the designation "2d Marines" kept intact . Upon th e request of the Navy for a battalion-sized unit to b e deployed with the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranea n Sea, the 2d Marines embarked on 5 January 1948 for the island of Malta . As part of the first amphibious unit to reinforce the Sixth Fleet, the 2d Marine s took part in landing exercises until relieved in March . The regiment returned to Camp Lejeune , where it regained two-battalion strength on 1 7 October 1949 . During the 1950s, the regiment engaged in numerous training exercises in the Caribbean an d Mediterranean . From 31 October to 3 Novembe r 1956, Battalion Landing Team 3/2 assisted in th e evacuation of United States observers and othe r

Marines of the 81 mm Mortar Platoon, attached to the 2d Battalion, 2d Marines, man positions over looking the city of Beirut, Lebanon, in August 1958.
Department of Defense Photo (USMC) A1746 5

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foreign nationals from Alexandria and the Gaz a Strip, as war threatened between Egypt and Israel . In the summer of 1958, political tensions increased in Lebanon . President Dwight D . Eisenhower, complying with a request from th e Lebanese president, decided to intervene with military force . Battalion Landing Team 2/2 made th e initial landing in Lebanon on 15 July 1958 . Whe n tensions began to ease, the Marines withdrew o n 15 August . By 23 October, the unit had returned t o Camp Lejeune . In October 1962, after President John F. Kennedy's ultimatum that Soviet offensive missiles be removed from Cuba, the 2d Battalion and othe r elements of the 2d Marines embarked once again . They sailed for the Caribbean as part of a large r task force ordered to impose a naval quarantin e against arms shipments to Cuba . After the crisis had subsided, the Marines returned to Cam p Lejeune in early December. In late April 1965, internal problems in the Dom inican Republic led to intervention by forces of th e United States . As part of a joint task force, Battalion Landing Team 1/2 sailed on 1 May and remained offshore as a floating reserve for one month . Through the 1970s and into the 1980s, the 2 d Marines continued to deploy units in a high state

of readiness for a wide variety of training exercise s and contingency responses . With the advent of the Corps' Unit Deployment Program in 1982, the regiment assumed a truly worldwide posture, periodically deploying battalions to the Pacific for the firs t time since World War II . During the 1980s, the 2d Marines took part in many training exercises, which included participation in North Atlantic Treaty Organization exercises, in order to maintain the regiment's tradition al high standards of operational readiness . The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 199 0 threatened the stability of the entire Persian Gul f region, and President George H . Bush immediatel y ordered American forces to the area in order t o prevent a possible Iraqi Invasion of Saudi Arabia . On 23 August, the 2d Battalion, 2d Marine's, wa s assigned to the operational control of the 6th Marines, and subsequently deployed with that regiment in late December to Saudi Arabia for participation in Operation Desert Shield . The 2d Marine Division, meanwhile, assigne d Regimental Landing Team 2 (RLT 2) to the operational control of the 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade (4th MEB) . During mid-August, RLT 2 , consisting of the 1st and 3d Battalions, 2d Marines , along with supporting ground units and aviatio n

A simulated guerrilla village is searched as part of a training exercise held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba , by Marines of Company E, 2d Battalion, 2d Marines, on 12 August 1966
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Department of Defense Photo (USN) DN-ST-92-0733 9

A convoy of cargo trucks of the 1st Battalion, 2d Marines, crosses the desert in Saudi Arabia durin g Operation Desert Shield. assets, deployed to the Persian Gulf as part of 4th MEB for participation in Operation Desert Shield . In late September, the two battalions participate d in training and amphibious rehearsals for possibl e employment as a landing force along the Kuwait i coast . In early January 1991, elements of the 1s t Battalion, 2d Marines participated in the evacuation of American civilians and other foreign nationals during Operation Eastern Exit in Somalia . Th e Battalion Landing Team then returned to th e Persian Gulf region to continue planning for contingency operations . On 24 February, RLT 2's ships sailed north into the Persian Gulf to await tasking, prior to th e beginning of the ground portion of Operatio n Desert Storm . Contingency planning and las t minute plans for an amphibious landing in Kuwai t continued . With the announcement, however, o f the 28 February ceasefire, it was realized that th e call for an amphibious landing in Kuwait woul d not occur. In mid-March, RLT 2 sailed for home, and was briefed and congratulated by th e Commanding General, 4th MEB, on its critical rol e during Operation Desert Storm in deceiving Iraq i forces as to a possible amphibious landing i n Kuwait . The RLT's sister battalion, the 2d Battalion , 2d Marines, participated, however, in the groun d assault portion of Operation Desert Storm . By 23 February, the battalion had moved to its final assembly area prior to the major Allie d Coalition assault . On 24 February, the 2d Battalion , 2d Marines, was among the units leading the 2 d Marine Division assault into Kuwait, by breachin g the center sector of the Iraqi minefields and subsequent defensive lines . Throughout the three-da y attack, the battalion met and overcame every challenge and obstacle that was encountered . A 2 8 February ceasefire ended the fighting, with Iraq i forces thoroughly defeated . In late March, the battalion moved back to Al Jubayl, Saudi Arabia, and returned home to Camp Lejeune inApril to a war m welcome .

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Meanwhile, on 23 March, the USS Shreveport (LPD-12), carrying RLT 2, transited the Suez Cana l and entered the Mediterranean Sea, enroute t o Rota, Spain . On 15 April, RLT 2 arrived at Morehea d City, North Carolina, and was greeted by an enthu siastic and supportive crowd which lined the docks to show its appreciation and to welcome the Marines back home . On 6 May the RLT reverted t o the operational command of the 2d Marine Division . During the remainder of the decade, the 2 d Marines participated in operations in locales a s diverse as the Caribbean, Africa, and Europe . Elements of the regiment deployed during the 1990s to Cuba, Haiti, Liberia, Somalia, Sierre Leone , Zaire, and Albania . The 2d Marines ' versatility an d rapid response capability in these operations , which included disaster and humanitarian relief, along with non-combatant emergency evacuadons, and support for civil authority, demonstrated the regiment's historic versatility and operational readiness .

Department of Defense Photo (USMC) M-0012-DSP-94-A00320

LCpl j T Eimer of Company E, 2d Battalion, 2 d . Marines, stands at his security post in Cap Haitien, Haiti, in support of Operation Uphold Democracy in September 1994.

1941 - 1946 REACTIVATED 1 FEBRUARY 1941 AT SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, AS 2D MARINES , 2D MARINE DIVISIO N DEPLOYED DURING JULY 1942 TO KORO ISLAN D PARTICIPATED IN THE FOLLOWING WORLD WAR II CAMPAIGN S GUADALCANAL TARAW A SAIPAN TINIAN OKINAW A REDEPLOYED DURING SEPTEMBER 1945 TO NAGASAKI, JAPA N PARTICIPATED IN THE OCCUPATION OF JAPAN, SEPTEMBER 1945 - JUNE 194 6 RELOCATED DURING JUNE JULY 1946 TO CAMP LEJEUNE, NORTH CAROLIN A

The 6th Marines was organized on 11 July 191 7 at Quantico, Virginia, for combat service with th e American Expeditionary Force in France . Commanded by ColonelAlbertus W. Catlin, the regimen t was composed of the following units : the 1st Battalion, consisting of the 74th, 75th, 76th, and 95t h Companies; the 2d Battalion, consisting of th e 78th, 79th, 80th, and 96th Companies ; and the 3d

Battalion, consisting of the 82d, 83d, 84th, and 97t h Companies . The regiment spent the summer o f 1917 in extensive training and maneuvers a t Quantico, conducting drills in trench and gas warfare, and the use of hand grenades, the bayonet, an d machine guns . In less than eight months, the regiment wa s fighting on the front lines in France . The 5th an d

A contingent of 6th Marines passes in review on 8 August 1919, as the 2d Division parades up 5th Avenue from Washington Square, New York City.
National Archives Photo (USMC) 127-N-51945 8

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6th Marines, along with the 6th Machine Gu n Battalion, formed the 4th Marine Brigade commanded by Brigadier General Charles A . Doyen . As part of the U.S . Army's 2d Infantry Division, the 4th Marine Brigade participated in some of the heaviest fighting of World War I . In a series of bitterly contested battles during 6 25 June 1918, the 6th Marines helped to sweep German troops from Belleau Wood, receiving alon g with the 5th Marines, special commendation fro m the French Government . The Belleau Wood are a was renamed "Bois de la Brigade de Marine ." Shortly after the engagement at Belleau Wood , the 6th Marines fought at Soissons, suffering heavy casualties from German artillery and machine gu n fire . By the end of July 1918, however, the Germa n line had been broken, bringing about the captur e of hundreds of guns and thousands of prisoners . The 6th Marines then moved to a rest and training area, to prepare for the St . Mihiel offensive , which began on 12 November 1918 . In this operation the 2d Infantry Division was commanded b y Marine Major General John A . Lejeune . The 6t h Marines again displayed tenacity and coolness under fire, while driving back a determined enemy. During October 1918, the 6th Marines participated in the Meuse-Argonne drive . In a series of assaults and counterattacks, the regiment captured the fortified hill of Blanc Mont and the heights of St . Etienne, freeing the Allied approaches to th e western Argonne . In the closing weeks of the war, the 6th Marines also took part in the final phase of the Meuse-Argonne drive, and on 10 Novembe r 1918, one day before the signing of the Armistice , succeeded in crossing the Meuse River . Two Marines of the regiment received the Medal of Honor : Corporal John H . Pruitt, 78th Company, and Gunnery Sergeant Fred W. Stockham, 96th Company. At the conclusion of World War I the Frenc h Government awarded three unit decorations , including the coveted Croix de Guerre with Palm , to the 6th Marines . After the Armistice, the regiment crossed th e Rhine River to serve for a short while in occupie d Germany. Redeploying in July 1919, it returned t o Quantico, where it was disbanded on 13 Augus t 1919 . Two years later, on 15 September 1921, the 6t h Marines was reactivated at Quantico, for a varie d history of service with the East Coast Expeditionary Force, overseas duty in China, and maneuver s with the Fleet Marine Force—all interspersed wit h periods of disbandment or inactivation .

Elements of the 6th Marines served briefly a t Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and landed in the Dominican Republic during the 1920s to protec t American interests . For the most part, however, the regiment's postwar duties focused on trainin g and maneuvers . In May 1927, whenAmerican lives and propert y in China were threatened, the 6th Marine s deployed quickly to Shanghai as part of the 3 d Brigade, to help defend the city's Internationa l Settlement . The regiment's next two years in China consisted mainly of guard and patrol duty Early i n 1929 the 6th Marines withdrew from the Far East , and returned to San Diego, California, where it disbanded on 31 March 1929 . Upon the establishment of the Fleet Marin e Force, the 6th Marines was reactivated on 1 September 1934 at San Diego . The regiment too k part in Pacific maneuvers with the U .S . Fleet in the spring of 1935, before returning to San Diego fo r further training and exercises . During the summe r of 1937, more trouble in China caused another deployment in the Far East . The 6th Marines saile d for Shanghai in September 1937, to augmen t American forces already positioned in the International Settlement . The regiment returned to th e United States in April 1938 and assumed an inactive status . In March 1940, the 6th Marines was reestablished at Marine Corps Base, San Diego . The regiment became the principal infantry unit of the 2 d Marine Brigade, which on 1 February 1941, wa s
Two Marines stand guard at an observation post

A squad of infantrymen from the 6th Marines train in wind-swept, snow-covered fields in a period o f half-light during the Icelandic winter in 1941-1942 . redesignated the 2d Marine Division . During the summer of 1941, the 6th Marines was temporaril y detached from the division when it was incorporated, along with other Marine units, into the 1s t Provisional Marine Brigade . The regiment deployed to Iceland with the brigade, to preclude a threatened German invasion . Upon its return from Iceland in March 1942, the 6th Marines again wa s stationed at San Diego, and reassigned to the 2 d Marine Division . On 19 October 1942, the 6th Marines bega n deploying to New Zealand, enroute to rejoinin g other 2d Marine Division units on Guadalcanal . By mid January 1943, the regiment had assumed front line positions in the right half of the 2d Marine Division's sector . The 6th Marines, along with Army units, assaulted Japanese defenses in that area, an d in the sectors east and south of Kokumbona . Relieved of frontline duty on 30 January, the regiment continued to assist in mopping-up operation s on the island . In early February 1943, the 6t h Marines and other units of the 2d Marine Divisio n left Guadalcanal for New Zealand to undergo reha bilitation and training in preparation for the Gilbert Islands campaign . At Tarawa Atoll, on 20 November 1943, the 6t h Marines was initially held in reserve . But the precarious position of the 2d Marine Division at th e end of the first day's fighting soon required it s reserve to be committed to the battle . The 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, landed on Betio Island on 2 1 November 1943 . That afternoon, the 2d Battalion , 6th Marines, landed on Bairiki Island, east of Betio , and seized the island . The Japanese avenue of retreat from Tarawa was now blocked, and th e Marine seizure of Bairiki provided an excellent location from which Marine artillery could support operations on Betio . By the following day most of the regiment's men were heavily engaged against strongly defended Japanese pillboxes an d artillery on Betio . The island was declared secure on 23 November, and all three battalions of the 6t h Marines spent the following days in cleaning ou t the rest of the atoll . By 28 November, all of Taraw a was in American hands . The 2d Marine Divisio n subsequently relocated to Hawaii during Decem -

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Department of Defense Photo (USMC) A6403 2

Marines move out from the beachhead onto the smoke-covered Japanese airstrip on Tarawa i n November 1943 . ber 1943, to begin preparation for its next amphibious operation . The 6th Marines played a paramount role in the assault on the Marianas during the summer o f 1944 . The regiment landed on the southwest coas t of Saipan on 15 June 1944, with troops of the 2 d and 4th Marine Divisions, and advanced inland despite determined enemy resistance . The 6t h Marines fought off savage Japanese counterattack s during the night of 16-17 June, and again on 2 6 June . After recapturing the town of Garapan, on 4 July, the 2d Marine Division briefly went int o reserve, but soon rejoined the steady, but slow , advance against a system of well-defended caves . Organized Japanese resistance on Saipan virtuall y ceased on the island by 8 July. On that day the 2 d Marine Division replaced the Army's 27th Divisio n in the front lines, and continued to mop up remaining groups of Japanese holdouts on the island . The 2d and 4th Divisions landed on Tinian on 2 4 July 1944, and advanced rapidly inland . The 6th Marines participated in the steady drive southwar d on Tinian, which by 31 July had brought the regiment to a line of vertical cliffs, where Japanes e resistance had stiffened . Fighting alongside the 8th Marines, the 6th Marines repulsed several enem y counterattacks. By 1 August, organized resistanc e had ceased, although sporadic clashes continued for another week . The 6th Marines returned to BGen Merritt A . Edson, assistant division commander of the 2d Marine Division, confers wit h Col James R Risely commanding officer of the 6th Marines, and LtCol Kenneth F McLeod, exec. utive officer of the 6th Marines, on Saipan during June 1944 .
Department of Defense Photo (USMC) A8248 1

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Deparment of Defense Photo (USMC) A15207 4

Supported by a medium tank, Marines advance on Tinian during late July 1944 . Saipan in mid-August, where it took part in mopping-up operations, which would include a majo r drive in November. The 2d Marine Division left Saipan for Okinaw a in late March 1945 . On D-Day, 1 April, the 6t h Marines engaged in diversionary activities alon g the southeast coast of the island . The 2d Marine Division remained in floating reserve . The 130t h Naval Construction Battalion and the 2 d Amphibian Truck Company were put ashore on 1 1 April, and the remainder of the division returned t o Saipan . Later, in June, the 8th Marines and rein forcing units went back to Okinawa and took par t in the final days of fighting . After the Japanese surrender, the 6th Marine s accompanied the 2d Marine Division to Japan . Th e regiment arrived at Nagasaki on 23 Septembe r 1945 for occupation duty. It left Japan during June 1946, but in lieu of rejoining the 2d Marine Division units at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, i t was relocated instead to Camp Pendleton, California, where it was attached to the 3d Marin e Brigade on 11 September 1946 . Upon the deactivation of the 3d Marine Brigade the following year , the 6th Marines was transferred to the 1st Marin e Division .The regiment was deactivated on 1 October 1949 ; on 17 October, however, a new 6th Marines was activated as part of the 2d Marin e Division at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina . The outbreak of the fighting in Korea in July 1950 created an immediate need to build up the understrength 1st Marine Division . This brough t about further changes in the organizational structure of the 6th Marines . Organic units of the regiment were transferred to the 1st and 7th Marines , 1st Marine Division . Within days, however, ne w elements of the 6th Marines were activated . Th e regiment was quickly brought up to wartim e strength, underwent an intensive training program , and soon resumed its place as one of the majo r combat elements of the 2d Marine Division . Since January 1950, the 6th Marines has provid -

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Department of Defense Photo (USMC) A1998 6

Personnel of the 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, gathered on the airfield in Santo Domingo, Dominica n Republic, in May 1965. ed reinforced battalions, on a rotating basis, for ser vice with the U .S . Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean . In July 1958, after an urgent appeal from Lebanon , President Dwight D . Eisenhower orderedAmerican troops into Beirut, to support the Lebanese government . The 3d Battalion, 6th Marines, landed near Beirut on the morning of 16 July 1958 as part of the 2d Provisional Marine Brigade, and remained ashore until 1 October 1958 . During the Cuban missile crisis of Octobe r 1962, all elements of the 6th Marines wer e embarked to assist in the quarantine of Cuba, read y to land if required . In the aftermath of the crisis , 2d Marine Division units remained in the Caribbean area until early December 1962 . Chaotic conditions in the Dominican Republi c during April 1965 once more tested the capabilities of the 6th Marines . Elements of the regimen t were the first to respond to President Lyndon B . Johnson's orders to deploy Marines into the capital city of Santo Domingo, to protect American live s and property and to assist in evacuations . With th e rest of the 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade, unit s of the 6th Marines helped in the evacuation of more than 1,300 refugees from the Dominica n Republic during April-June 1965, before returnin g to Camp Lejeune . During the 1970s and 1980s, units of the 6t h Marines conducted numerous amphibious an d training exercises, especially in the Mediterranea n and the Caribbean . As part of the 22d Marine Amphibious Unit, the 2d Battalion, 6th Marines—a s the nucleus of Battalion Landing Team 2/6 — deployed to Beirut, Lebanon, during February Jun e 1983, as part of a multinational peacekeepin g force . The next test of the regiment's operationa l readiness occurred in December 1989, when elements of the 6th Marines participated in Operatio n Just Cause in Panama . This operation was launche d to protect American lives, restore the democrati c process, and preserve the integrity of the Panam a Canal Treaty. The operation concluded in Jun e 1990 . Barely two months after the termination o f Operation Just Cause, the readiness of the 6t h Marines was again put to the test . In August 1990 , the forces of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein invad -

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Marines of Company K, 3d Battalion, 6th Marines, man a roadblock that separated Howard Air Forc e Base from the coastal town of Vera Cruz, Panama, during Operation Just Cause in 1990 . ed Kuwait, sparking a major crisis in the Persia n Gulf. After President George H . Bush ordere d American military forces to the region, the 6th Marines immediately underwent an aggressiv e training program . As preparations continued at a rapid pace at Camp Lejeune for possible deployment to Southwest Asia, there was still work to b e done on the regiment's organization . The 2 d Battalion, 6th Marines, had been deactivated i n 1989, and its place in the regiment was taken by the 2d Battalion, 2d Marines . In November, the 2 d Marine Division received the anticipated orders fo r deployment to the Persian Gulf, and in mid December, the 6th Marines deployed to Saud i Arabia for Operation Desert Shield . It was quickly recognized that whatever mission might be assigned, the ability to move into Kuwai t to engage the enemy would depend on the abilit y of the 2d Marine Division to conduct a successful breach of Iraqi defenses . By early February, it wa s determined that the division's breach of thes e defenses would be conducted by the 6th Marines , as that regiment had the most training in breaching operations . Early on the morning of 24 February 1991, th e 6th Marines, with attached combat engineers , assaulted the Iraqi defensive lines, using min e plows, mine rakes, and line charges to blow up th e obstacles . Six breach lanes were successfully mad e through the enemy minefields. The following day, the 6th Marines was engaged by an Iraqi battalion sized armor and mechanized infantry force . Fighting back with its own tanks and air support , the regiment routed the enemy. As Iraqi forces began to surrender in large numbers, the regimen t continued movement to its assigned objectives . On 28 February, a general ceasefire ended 2d Marine Division offensive operations . During March, the regiment maintained a defensive posture and continued mopping up operations in the vicinity of Al Jahra, Kuwait, until move ment to the south later in the month. DuringApril , the regiment redeployed to North Carolina, and received a hearty welcome at Camp Lejeune for a job well done . The 6th Marines continued to utilize its skill s and team spirit during the 1990s in humanitaria n and peacekeeping activities . Elements of the regi -

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ment participated from July-October 1994 in sup port of Operation Sea Signal at Guantanamo Bay , Cuba . The operation was a humanitarian relie f effort for 14,000 Haitian migrants seeking shelte r from a military dictatorship, and more than 30,00 0 Cubans stymied by the closing of a door to the United States . More recently, elements of the regiment participated during 1995-96 in Operations Deny Flight and Joint Endeavor in Bosnia ; Operations Southern Watch and Desert Thunder in Southwest Asia in 1998 ; and Operation Unite d Force in Kosovo in 1999 . The participation of the 6th Marines in these operations was undertaken i n conjunction with other American and foreig n forces, in support of United Nations peacekeeping efforts in the strife-tom nations . At right, members of the 6th Marines disembark from the USS Dubuque (LPD-8) upon their arrival in Saudi Arabia as part of Operation Desert Shield in September 1990 . (Department of Defense Photo (USN) DN-ST-91-02384) Below, Marines from Company C, 1st Battalion, 6t h Marines, participate in Operation Urban Warrior at Camp Lejeune in January 1998. (Photo courtesy of 2d Marine Division)

6th Marine s
LINEAGE
1917-192 1 ACTIVATED 11 JULY 1917 AT QUANTICO,VIRGINIA,AS THE 6TH REGIMEN T DEPLOYED DURING OCTOBER 1917 - FEBRUARY 1918 TO FRANCE, AND ASSIGNED TO THE 4TH MARINE BRIGADE, 2D DIVISION (ARMY),AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORC E PARTICIPATED IN THE FOLLOWING WORLD WAR I OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN S
AISNE AISNE-MARNE ST MIHIEL .

MEUSE-ARGONNE PARTICIPATED IN THE FOLLOWING WORLD WAR I DEFENSIVE CAMPAIGN S TOULON-TROYON CHATEAU-THIERRY MA.RBACHE LIMEY PARTICIPATED IN THE OCCUPATION OF THE GERMAN RHINELAND, DECEMBER 1918 - JULY 191 9 RELOCATED DURING AUGUST 1919 TO QUANTICO,VIRGINI A ELEMENT OF THE REGIMENT REMAINED ON ACTIVE DUTY 1919-192 1

DEPLOYED DURING MAY 1927 TO SHANGHAI, CHINA,AND ASSIGNED T O THE 3D BRIGAD E RELOCATED DURING MARCH 1929 TO SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA,AN D DETACHED FROM THE 3D BRIGAD E DEACTIVATED 31 MARCH 192 9

1934 - 1949 REACTIVATED 1 SEPTEMBER 1934 AT SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, AS TH E 6TH MARINES, FLEET MARINE FORCE ASSIGNED 1 JULY 1936 TO THE 2D MARINE BRIGADE, FLEET MARINE FORCE DEPLOYED DURING SEPTEMBER 1937 TO SHANGHAI, CHIN A RELOCATED DURING APRIL 1938 TO SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNI A 2D MARINE BRIGADE REDESIGNATED 1 FEBRUARY 1941 AS THE 2D MARINE DIVISION, FLEE T MARINE FORC E DEPLOYED DURING MAY-JULY 1941 TO REYKJAVIK, ICELAND, AND ASSIGNE D TO THE 1ST PROVISIONAL MARINE BRIGAD E RELOCATED DURING FEBRUARY-MARCH 1942 TO SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA , AND REASSIGNED TO THE 2D MARINE DIVISION, FLEET MARINE FORC E DEPLOYED DURING OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 1942 TO WELLINGTON , NEW ZEALAND PARTICIPATED IN THE FOLLOWING WORLD WAR D CAMPAIGN S GUADALCANA L SOUTHERN SOLOMONS TARAW A SAIPAN TINIAN OKINAW A DEPLOYED DURING SEPTEMBER 1945 TO NAGASAKI, JAPA N PARTICIPATED IN THE OCCUPATION OF JAPAN, SEPTEMBER 1945 - JUNE 194 6 RELOCATED DURING JULY 1946 TO CAMP PENDLETON, CALIFORNI A

HONORS
PRESIDENTIAL UNIT CITATION STREAME R WORLD WAR I I TARAWA-194 3 NAVY UNIT COMMENDATION STREAME R SOUTHWEST ASIA 1990-199 1 WORLD WAR I VICTORY STREAMER WITH ONE SILVER STA R ARMY OF OCCUPATION OF GERMANY STREAMER YANGTZE SERVICE STREAME R MARINE CORPS EXPEDITIONARY STREAMER WITH THREE BRONZE STAR S CHINA SERVICE STREAME R AMERICAN DEFENSE SERVICE STREAMER WITH ONE BRONZE STA R EUROPEAN-AFRICAN-MIDDLE EASTERN CAMPAIGN STREAMER ASIATIC-PACIFIC CAMPAIGN STREAMER WITH ONE SILVER AND ONE BRONZE STAR WORLD WAR II VICTORY STREAMER NAVY OCCUPATION SERVICE STREAMER WITH "ASIA"AND "EUROPE " NATIONAL DEFENSE SERVICE STREAMER WITH TWO BRONZE STAR S ARMED FORCES EXPEDITIONARY STREAMER WITH TWO BRONZE STAR S SOUTHWEST ASIA SERVICE STREAMER WITH TWO BRONZE STARS FRENCH CROIX DE GUERRE WITH TWO PALMS AND ONE GILT STA R

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The 8th Marines

The 8th Marines was originally activated as th e 8th Regiment at Quantico, Virginia, on 9 Octobe r 1917 . The infantry regiment was formed by companies from Philadelphia and California's Mare Island, as well as Quantico . Major Ellis B . Miller, a 37-year-old Iowan, assumed command of the regiment, which had a strength of approximately 1,000 . The outbreak of hostilities between the Unite d States and Germany in 1917 had caused the regiment's activation, but it was first sent to Texas , instead of France . During November 1917, the reg-

iment moved to Fort Crockett, near Galveston, t o guard against German agents who might try to disrupt vital shipments from Mexican oil fields . Duties in Texas were those of a typical garriso n force, with a training program pointed toward contingency operations in Mexico . The need for suc h operations never materialized . The regimen t embarked on board the USS Hancock (AP-3) in April 1919 . Upon returning to Philadelphia it was deactivated . By the end of 1919, however, the 8th Regimen t was reactivated in Haiti . At Port-au-Prince, the 1s t
Depannent of Defense Photo (USMC)A51980 9

Marines near Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in 1920 prepare to patrol in search of Caco bandits .

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Battalion was activated on 17 December, and th e regimental headquarters on 5 January 1920 . Lieutenant Colonel Louis McCarty Little, an office r with prior service in Latin America and China, wa s given command of the reactivated 8th Regiment , which in turn was assigned to the 1st Marin e Brigade. During 1920 and 1921, the regiment suppressed Caco bandits in the southern half of th e country, primarily in the region around Port-au Prince . By early 1922, banditry had almost bee n eradicated in Haiti, and the 8th Regiment soo n switched its emphasis to duties related to civic action : mapping the country ; helping to construct roads and sanitation facilities ; and training the local constabulary. Under continued peaceful conditions, the regiment was deactivated at Port-au Prince on 1 July 1925 . In early 1940, the Marine Corps gradually bega n to increase the number of units on active duty, as a consequence of general war in Europe durin g 1939. The first major organization to be brough t back into being was the 8th Marines, reactivate d on 1 April 1940 at San Diego, California . Colone l Leo D . Hermle, a veteran of World War I, took command of the regiment, which was initially assigne d to the 2d Marine Brigade . The 8th Marines was assigned to the 2d Marine Division at the division' s activation on 1 February 1941, and joined othe r division units in training exercises on San Clemente Island, off the coast of Southern California .

Department of Defense Photo (IISMC)A5183 1

Col Richard H Jeshke, commanding officer of th e 8th Marines, and LtCol Augustus Fricke, commanding the 3d Battalion, 8th Marines, discus s plans for a new drive on Guadalcanal i n January 1943. After the Japanese struck at Pearl Harbor on 7 December, the 8th Marines had an initial mission o f defending the California coast from Oceanside t o the Mexican border against a possible Japanese at -

Maj Henry P "Jim" Crowe is at his command post, where he observes and directs the 2d Battalion, 8t h . Marines, during the bitter fighting on Tawara in late November 1943 .
Department of Defense Photo (USMC) A6395 6

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tack . The regiment was next ordered to prepare for deployment to American Samoa, in the Sout h Pacific . Forming the nucleus of a new 2d Marin e Brigade, the 8th Marines sailed from California o n 6 January 1942—part of the first force to moun t out for the Pacific after the outbreak of war. Arriving at the Samoan capital of Pago Pago on 1 9 January, the regiment, now commanded by Colone l Richard H . Jeschke, took over the job of shoring u p the island's defenses from the 7th Defens e Battalion. By summer, the 8th Marines had begun to pre pare for offensive operations outside of th e Samoan area . The regiment's first combat assignment of World War H came during the struggle fo r Guadalcanal . On 4 November 1942, after a 10-day voyage from Samoa, the unit reached the embattle d island, and went ashore near Lunga Point on th e northern coast . Almost immediately, the unit wa s involved in heavy fighting with the Japanese , which continued through November and into th e next month .

During January the 8th Marines, with othe r Marine Corps and Army units, made a final drive toward the west, with the support of naval gunfire . Guadalcanal was eventually declared secure on 8 February 1943 . The entire regiment reassembled for a period o f rest and relaxation in New Zealand on 16 Februar y 1943, establishing a permanent base nea r Paekakariki, 35 miles north of Wellington . Large quantities of war material began to arrive from th e United States . The target for the next campaig n was the Gilbert Islands, and the capture of Taraw a Atoll . A significant enemy garrison was located o n Betio Island . Shortly before dawn on 20 November 1943 th e transports carrying the invasion force arrived off Betio . The initial wave to go ashore consisted o f Major Henry P. "Jim" Crowe's 2d Battalion, 8t h Marines, and the 2d and 3d Battalions, 2d Marines . The 3d Battalion, 8th Marines, headed for the beach several hours later, losing many men fro m enemy machine gun fire, shell fragments, an d

Alen of the 8th Marines pause to regroup during the battle for Saipan in June 1944 .
Deoartment of Defense Photo (USMC) A82703

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Department of Defense Photo (USMC) Al2698 7

Men of the 8th Marines on board LSTs advance toward their objective, Iheya Shima, in June1945, a s the small island off Okinawa's northern coast is also assaulted by ai r drownings . When the landing craft were unable to get past an offshore reef, the Marines dismounte d and waded ashore, crossing hundreds of yard s through a fire-swept lagoon . Early on 21 November the 1st Battalion joined the regiment ashore . The Marines suffered extremely heavy losses during four days of bitter fighting . The 8th Marines , less the 1st Battalion, stood down on 23 November . By the end of that day, the entire island was i n American hands. After Tarawa, the 8th Marines sailed for th e Hawaiian Islands . After a stop at Pearl Harbor, where the wounded were transferred to hospitals , the regiment traveled to the island of Hawaii and helped set up a base named Camp Tarawa . There , the Marines would rest, re-equip themselves, an d prepare for their next landing : Saipan . Now commanded by Colonel Clarence R . Wallace, a veteran of the battle for Kwajalein, th e 8th Marines furnished two battalions—the 2d an d 3d—for the initial Saipan landing, on the mornin g of 15 June 1944 . The assault waves were met by withering enemy fire and sustained heavy losses , but managed to move forward against Japanes e strongholds after reaching the beach . The 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, soon joined the rest of th e regiment ashore and helped expand its perimeter. Over the ensuing three weeks, the 8th Marines, with other units of the 2d Marine Division, pushe d northward, hampered equally by a tenacious fo e and by the rugged, mountainous terrain of th e island . Organized Japanese resistance finally ended on 9 July, although mopping-up operations would go on for some time after that . With Saipan secure, the regiment was ordere d to prepare for a landing on nearby Tinian . At dawn on 24 July, the 8th and 2d Marines conducted a feint off the beach at Tinian Town on the southwes t coast . This diverted Japanese attention from th e main landings by the 24th and 25th Marines of th e 4th Marine Division, on two small beaches on th e northern tip of the island . The 8th Marines came ashore the following morning and began movin g north toward its objective, Ushi Point . Despite rocky terrain, thick undergrowth, a fierce two-day typhoon, and groups of the determined Japanes e holed up in craggy coral outcroppings, the islan d was officially secured by 1 August . The 8th Marine s then assumed sole responsibility for patrolling an d mop-up activities, which lasted for months . On 1 April 1945, the 8th Marines formed part of a division-sized feint against the southeast coast of Okinawa, while the main landings were takin g place on the western coast . Shortly afterward, th e regiment redeployed to Saipan, but before long was called back to Okinawan waters to seize off-

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shore islands . It captured Iheya Shima on 3 June , then Aguni Shima on 9 June . In a final thrus t against entrenched Japanese forces, the 8t h Marines was called in to relieve the battle-worn 7t h Marines on 18 June . That same day, U .S .Tenth Army commander Lieutenant General Simon B . Buckne r was mortally wounded by enemy shelling while h e was observing the battle progress in the 3 d Battalion, 8th Marines' sector. Marine Lieutenant General Roy S . Geiger, who had taken command of the Tenth Army after General Buckner's death, declared the island secured on 22 June 1945 . The 8th Marines stayed on Okinawa until 1 July for mopping-up operations . The regiment then redeployed to Saipan where i t rejoined the 2d Division, then in training for th e projected invasion of Japan . After the war ended in August 1945, the 8th Marines prepared to move to the island of Kyushu, where it would be assigned occupation duty. The regiment arrived at the devastated city of Nagasaki in late September. For the next nine months, i t served alongside other 2d Marine Division an d Army units of the occupation force . In June 1946, the 8th Marines received orders to return to th e United States, to end four and a half years in th e Pacific theater. After debarking in Norfolk, the regiment proceeded to Camp Lejeune, Nort h Carolina, where the 2d Marine Division had established its new home . The 8th Marines, after being reduced to the siz e of an infantry battalion, participated in Atlantic Fleet maneuvers in February 1948, then departe d for the Mediterranean Sea, part of a second Marin e amphibious unit which deployed with the Sixth Fleet . The deployment of such amphibious force s to the Mediterranean has since become routin e and continuous, providing a base for rapid contingency response in the region . After another deployment to the Mediterranean in 1949, the 8t h Marines was deactivated on 17 October 1949, a result of the ongoing postwar reorganization of a shrinking Marine Corps . The outbreak of the Korean War, in June 1950 , brought about reactivation of the 8th Marines by 9 August of that year. In June 1951, battalions of the regiment resumed their Mediterranean deployments, where they took part in North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) exercises . In the Caribbean, other battalions—and on occasion the entire regiment—deployed frequently for training exercises . A civil war in Lebanon during the summer of

Department of Defense Photo (USMC:) A450302

A rifle squad from Company D, 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, attempts to locate a sniper firing at a position near the international safety zone in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, in May 1965. 1958 resulted in the landing of two battalions o f the 8th Marines at Beirut during 18-21 July, as par t of a larger peacekeeping force . The 1st Battalion , 8th Marines, which had deployed to the Mediterranean earlier in the year, came ashore in landing craft . The 2d Battalion, along with Company K of the 3d Battalion, arrived by airlift increments a t Beirut International Airport . After calm wa s restored, the two battalions left Lebanon in September, returning to Camp Lejeune . In the fall of 1962, the 8th Marines played a role in the Cuban missile crisis . As President John F. Kennedy, on 22 October, spoke to the America n people about the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba, the regiment, now commanded by Colonel Anthony Caputo, dispatched the 1st Battalion t o reinforce the U .S . Naval Base at Guantanamo .Th e rest of the regiment's battalions went on boar d ship several days later to help establish a nava l quarantine near Cuban waters . After the crisi s eased, the 8th Marines redeployed to Cam p Lejeune in increments during late November an d early December. On 26 October 1964, in a division-sized landin g exercise codenamed Steel Pike I, Colonel Richar d S . Johnson's 8th Marines became the first regiment in the history of the Marine Corps to make an amphibious landing entirely by helicopter. The exercise was conducted off the coast of Spain. In the spring of 1965, the 1st Battalion, 8t h Marines, was airlifted to the Dominican Republic , joining two other 2d Division battalions that ha d been deployed as part of a joint task force to dea l with worsening unrest there . For one month ,

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Department of Defense Photo (USN) DN-ST-84-0127 3

Personnel from Battalion Landing Team 1/8, 24th Marine Amphibious Unit, come ashore in late May 1983 at Beirut, Lebanon, debarking from a utility landing craft, ready to participate as part of the United Nations multinational peacekeeping force . Marines of the battalion braved sniper fire to patrol its sector of the capital city of Santo Domingo . Th e 1st Battalion sailed back to Camp Lejeune on 3 June 1965 . Two non-routine deployments of the 1st and 3d Battalions, 8th Marines, occurred in 1970 and 1971 , to New England and Washington, D .C ., in connection with potential civil disturbances . The regiment turned its attention to NATO' s northern flank in a series of exercises beginning i n the fall of 1976, before becoming the Marine Corps' dedicated Mediterranean regiment, taske d with providing battalions for routine deploymen t with the Sixth Fleet . In May 1980, the 1st Battalion, 8th Marines , deployed to Key West, Florida, on a humanitarian mission, assigned to assist in receiving civilia n refugees from Cuba and Haiti . As the ground combat element of the 32 d Marine Amphibious Unit (MAU), Battalion Landin g Team 2/8 assisted in the evacuation of America n citizens from Lebanon in late June 1982 . It the n landed at Beirut in August as part of a multinational peacekeeping force to oversee the two-week long evacuation of Palestinian guerrillas . Re embarking shortly after the guerrillas left, the Marines were ordered back to Beirut in lat e September. They established positions near th e Beirut International Airport. Over the next 1 8 months, all three battalions of the 8th Marine s were rotated through Beirut, as the ground cotnponents of the 24th and 22d MAUs, serving as par t

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Infantrymen from Company F, 2d Battalion, 8th Marines, begin patrolling on the island of Carriaco u after a pre-dawn, surprise landing on 1 November 1983 . The landing on Carriacou took place seven days after the initial American assault on nearby Grenada. of the multinational peacekeeping force . At 0622 on Sunday morning, 23 October 1983, a suicide truck-bomb attack on the headquarters building of the 1st Battalion at the Beirut Inter national Airport resulted in 220 Marine deaths, th e largest loss of Marines on a single day since World War II . Meanwhile in the Caribbean, Battalio n Landing Team 2/8, part of the 22d MAU enroute t o Lebanon, was diverted to Grenada for operations in conjunction with other American and Caribbea n forces . At 0500 on 25 October, Marines conducted a helicopterborne assault from the USS Gua m (LPH-9) on Pearls Airport . By 2 November, th e Marines had concluded operations on Grenada , secured the neighboring island of Carriacou, an d were back on their way to Lebanon, where the y remained until February 1984 . The regiment's traditional high level of operational readiness was tested again, in August 1990 , when Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait . Accordingly, President George H . Bush ordered a major deployment of U .S . Armed Forces to the Persian Gulf t o

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Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 960705-M-39830-00 2

A Marine from Company K, 3d Battalion, 8th Marines, stands his post at the southern end of the U.S. Embassy grounds in Monrovia, Liberia, in August 1996 prevent a possible Iraqi invasion of Saudi Arabia . The 2d Marine Division, including the 8th Marines , immediately intensified its training program in preparation for deployment to the Gulf. On 12 December, the main body of the division began deployment to Saudi Arabia to take its place as part of I Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF) . As the 8th Marines had to leave two of its four battalions behind to cover any other MEF commitment s which might arise, the 3d Battalion, 23d Marines, a Reserve unit headquartered in New Orleans , Louisiana, became the 8th Marines' third battalion . The 2d Battalion, 4th Marines, operationally attached to the regiment since mid-October, deployed to the Persian Gulf with the 8th Marines . In Saudi Arabia, the regiment underwent extensive training in preparation for the expecte d assault into Kuwait . The initial weeks prior to the assault was a period of continuous activity for the regiment, as it prepared to move to its final assembly areas . The 8th Marines also acquired an extra armored "punch" during this period, as two companies of the 4th Tank Battalion were assigned to the regiment . In the early morning hours of 24 February 1991 , the 8th Marines advanced through breaches in th e Iraqi minefields and attacked enemy positions inside of Kuwait . Units of the regiment were responsible for the destruction of dozens of enemy tank s and vehicles, hundreds of Iraqi casualties, and mor e than 1,200 enemy prisoners of war . As the 8th Marines continued to clear its sector of enem y forces, a 28 February ceasefire ended the fighting with a complete Coalition victory. In March, while the 2d Marine Division command post displaced to Saudi Arabia, the 8t h Marines remained in Kuwait under the operational control of Marine Forces Southwest Asia, in orde r

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Photo courtesy of Maj Nathan S . Lowrey, USMCR

Marines from Weapons Company, Battalion Landing Team 3/8, in Gnjilane, Kosovo, in July 1999, during Operation Joint Guardian . to provide a "presence" of U .S . forces in the area . Elements of the regiment participated from Apri l to July 1991 in Operation Provide Comfort, which was designed to provide humanitarian assistanc e to the Kurdish populations of northern Iraq . Th e bulk of the regiment remained in Kuwait unti l early May, when it was ordered to return to A l Jubayl in Saudi Arabia . At that time, the regiment returned to the operational control of the 2 d Marine Division, and began preparation for deployment back to Camp Lejeune . The 8th Marines was the last Marine ground combat unit to leave Kuwait . The long-awaited deployment home was completed in mid-May, when the Marines receive d a well-deserved welcome at Camp Lejeune . The remainder of the decade proved eventfu l for the 8th Marines . The regiment's operational skill and readiness was thoroughly tested, as elements of the 8th Marines participated in militar y operations and humanitarian missions in suppor t of American foreign policy interests . During th e 1990s Marines from the regiment were deploye d to Bosnia (1993 and 1994), Cuba and the Carib bean area (1993 and 1994), the Central African Republic (1996), and Liberia (1996), where their presence supported a variety of missions, including non-combatant evacuations, humanitaria n relief operations, and the restoration of order and democracy. During the last years of the decade , elements of the regiment participated in th e enforcement of United Nations resolutions in Albania and in Kosovo, as the spread of ethnic con flict in the former Yugoslavia threatened the stability of Eastern Europe.

LINEAGE
1917-191 9 ACTIVATED 9 OCTOBER 1917 AT QUANTICO, VIRGINIA,AS THE 8TH REGIMEN T RELOCATED DURING NOVEMBER 1917 TO FORT CROCKETT,TEXAS ASSIGNED DURING AUGUST 1918 TO THE 3D PROVISIONAL BRIGAD E RELOCATED DURING APRIL 1919 TO PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANI A DEACTIVATED 25 APRIL 191 9

DEPLOYED DURING SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 1945 TO NAGASAKI, JAPA N PARTICIPATED IN THE OCCUPATION OF JAPAN, OCTOBER 1945 - JUNE 194 6 RELOCATED DURING JUNE-JULY 1946 TO CAMP LEJEUNE, NORTH CAROLINA ASSIGNED DURING NOVEMBER 1948 TO THE 2D PROVISIONAL MARINE REGIMEN T DEACTIVATED 17 OCTOBER 194 9

The 10th Regiment was activated at Quantico , Virginia, on 15 January 1918, under the comman d of Major Robert H . Dunlap . It was organized fro m units of the Mobile Artillery Force, an outgrowth o f the artillery battalion formed at Veracruz, Mexico , in 1914 and later deployed to Haiti and Sant o Domingo . The 10th Regiment was formed to sup port the Marine regiments of the America n Expeditionary Force in France . Plans called for a Marine artillery regiment to man 7-inch naval gun s in support of an all-Marine division during th e extensive Allied operations planned for 1919 . Th e signing of the Armistice found the unit still trainin g in the United States . Postwar demobilization soon

brought a marked drawdown on the regiment's strength . Reorganized several times during the 1920s, th e 10th Regiment supplied personnel for expedition s to the Caribbean and the Pacific . During the early 1920s, the regiment took part in annual recreation s of famous Civil War battles : The Wilderness in 1921, Gettysburg in 1922, New Market in 1923, an d Antietam in 1924 . Elements of the 10th Regimen t also went to Culebra, Puerto Rico, and the territory of Hawaii . On 14 November 1924, all companie s were renamed as batteries . During October 1926 , the 10th Regiment (less the 4th Battery, 2 d Battalion) was assigned to guard the U .S . mails, in
Department of Defense Photo (USMC)A52154 2

Marines man a 3-inch field piece in full recoil, used in the Dominican Republic in 1916.

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Elements of the 10th Marines, along with members of several other Marine Corps units, were assigne d the task of guarding mail in the wake of a series of robberies in the 1920s . the wake of a series of robberies . In four month s of guard duty in the Midwest, no shots were fire d by Marines and no Marine-guarded mail was lost . In February of the following year, the unit returne d A battalion of the 10th Marines is inspected i n Tientsin, China in 1928. From left are Col Harry Lay, USMC; MajGen Joseph C. Castner USA, th e commander of US. Forces in China ; BGe n , Smedley D. Butler, USMC; and LtCol Ellis B . Miller USMC.
Department of Defense Photo (USMC) A515290

to Quantico, where it was placed on a stand-b y basis for expeditionary service in China . Elements of the 10th Regiment deployed to , Tientsin, China, during June 1927 . As part of the 3 d Brigade, under the command of Brigadier Genera l Smedley D . Butler, the unit provided security fo r American lives and property until October 1928 , when it returned to Quantico . On 10 July 1930, reflecting a Corps-wide chang e of "Regiment" to "Marines," the 10th Regiment wa s redesignated the 10th Marines . After the formatio n of the Fleet Marine Force in 1933, the 10th Marine s took part in fleet landing and training exercise s from Hawaii to Puerto Rico through the rest of the decade . During this period the 2d Battalion, 10t h Marines, was activated at San Diego . During late spring of 1941, artillery batteries o f the 2d Battalion, 10th Marines, were attached t o the 6th Marines, for deployment to Iceland . The ' artillerymen returned to the United States an d rejoined the 10th Marines on 1 April 1942 . At the outbreak of World War H, the 10t h Marines was attached to the 2d Marine Divisio n and stationed at Camp Elliott, San Diego, California .

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Department of Defense Photo (USMG) A524206

A group of British Army and U.S. Marine officers observe the operations of a 75mm howitzer gun cre w in maneuvers in Iceland, 1941-1942. Elements of the regiment began deploying in earl y 1942 : first to American Samoa, later to Ne w Zealand . In August 1942, the 3d Battalion, 10th Marines , attached to the 2d Marines, 1st Marine Division , was among the first units to land at Guadalcanal . Following the initial landing, the 3d Battalion, 10th Marines, landed onTulagi during early August, with remaining elements of the regiment arriving i n October. The 1st and 3d Battalions provided artillery support during the heavy fighting o n Guadalcanal, and the 1st and 2d Battalions too k part in the final drive against the enemy. After the Guadalcanal campaign, the 10th Marines wen t through a period of rehabilitation, reorganization , and training at Wellington, New Zealand . During the period, while the regiment prepare d for the Tarawa landing, Colonel Thomas E. Bourke was promoted to brigadier general—becoming th e first "commanding general" of the 10th Marines — and the regiment absorbed a fifth battalion . After remaining at sea as regimental reserve during th e initial assault on Betio Island, the 10th Marine s delivered direct fire in support of the 2d and 8t h Marines on 21 November 1943 . By that afternoon, the entire 1st Battalion, 10th Marines, had com e ashore . The following morning, batteries of the 2d Battalion, 10th Marines, landed on the neighboring island of Bairiki, subsequently directing heavy fire on Betio . On the morning of 23 November, the 4th Battalion, 10th Marines, landed on Betio to support the final attack . During this attack, however, the infantry advance was so quick and the fightin g took place at such close quarters that fire mission s became infeasible . The entire island was i n American hands by the end of the day . In December 1943, following relocation t o Hawaii and passage of command to Colone l Raphael Griffin, preparations began for the Saipa n operation . On the afternoon of 13-Day, 15 Jun e 1944, the 1st and 2d Battalions, 10th Marines, landed on the west coast of the island, to support infantry and tank units that had landed earlier i n the day and sustained heavy casualties . These battalions helped drive back the Japanese during a counterattack in the early morning hours of th e 16th . Later that afternoon, the 3d and 4t h Battalions landed . The damage suffered from the direct Japanese fire on the regimental command post and fire drection center on the night of 23-2 4 i June forced the 1st Battalion, 10th Marines, to temporarily assume regimental fire control responsibilities . Supported by heavy artillery fire, units o f the 2d and 4th Marine Division, along with the U .S . Army's 27th Division, continued to push th e Japanese off the island . The 3d and 4th Battalions , 10th Marines, were attached to the 4th Marin e Division to reinforce the 14th Marines and sue-

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cessfully helped repulse thousands of enemy soldiers in a desperate banzai attack on the morning of 7 July. The Marines fired their howitzers at poin t blank range before seizing pistols, rifles, and automatic rifles, to fight as infantry. The 3d Battalion , 10th Marines, was later awarded the Navy Uni t Commendation by Secretary of the Navy Jame s Forrestal . After Saipan was declared secure on 9 July, th e 10th Marines turned its attention toward operations on nearby Tinian . The campaign to capture Tinian began with the steady and methodical bombardment of the island from the southern end of Saipan from 9-23 July 1944 . On the morning of 2 4 July, while the 2d and 8th Marines conducted a suc cessful diversionary feint off the beach at Tinia n Town, elements of the 4th Marine Division foun d light resistance at the actual landing sites . Durin g the landings which followed, battalions of the 10th

Marines were assigned to the 4th Marine Divisio n initially. Later they went back to the 2d Marin e Division . On 27 July, the 3d and 4th Battalions , 10th Marines, joined other 10th Marine units . For the remainder of the battle, all battalions of th e 10th Marines fired in direct support of the 2d, 6th, and 8th Marines . After the island was secured, th e 10th Marines returned to Saipan for rest and training . On 27 March 1945, the 2d Marine Divisio n embarked at Saipan and sailed 1,200 miles westward to Okinawa. On 1 April, while Marine and Army units landed on the west coast of the island , the 2d Marine Division conducted a demonstration on the southeast coast to confuse the Japanes e defenders . For the first part of April, the 10t h Marines formed part of the floating reserve off the southern coast of Okinawa, until a growing threa t of Kamikaze attacks on U .S . ships caused the 2 d

The pack howitzer is shown firing into a cave of Japanese soldiers from the brink of a cliff on Tinian on 25 August 1944. The artillery piece was lashed securely in its unusual position after being carrie d in parts by weary Marines to the edge of the embankment.
Department of Defense Photo (USMC) A94660

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Department of Defense Photo (USMC) A1598 3

Marine artillery firing during training operations on Vieques Island, Puerto Rico, in March 1954.
Marine Division to return to Saipan. The 2 d Battalion, 10th Marines, returned to Okinawa i n June as part of a landing force that had been taske d with seizing several offshore islands . Later that month, the 2d Battalion served as supportin g artillery for the 8th Marines and assisted in th e final assault on the southern end of the island . Th e 10th Marines then returned to Saipan and its surrounding islands for artillery and maneuver exercises, remaining there until the end of the war . During late September 1945, the 10th Marine s relocated to Nagasaki, on the island of Kyushu, to assist in the occupation of Japan . The 2d Division remained in Japan, and eventually became solel y responsible for the occupation of the island o f Kyushu . The 10th Marines was one of the last unit s to leave Japan, after being relieved by the U . S . Army's 24th Division during June 1946 . It reached its new home, at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, i n
JuIY•

Despite reduced strength as a result of postwa r demobilization, elements of the 10th Marines participated in a great variety of training exercises, deployments, and field artillery demonstrations, including some at the familiar prewar training sit e of Culebra, Puerto Rico . A major reorganization during November 1947 resulted in the deactivation of all four artillery battalions, which wer e replaced by batteries . 'Following several additional reorganizations, the 10th Marines units wer e redesignated as 11th Marines units, in an effort t o build up the 1st Marine Division artillery fo r deployment to Korea during the summer of 1950 . Meanwhile, a new regiment, built primarily on Marine reservists, was formed at Camp Lejeune . Throughout the 1950s, training of the expanding 10th Marines intensified . Much of the time, th e 10th Marines took part in maneuvers in th e Caribbean and on the East Coast of the United States . At times, elements of the 10th Marines par -

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Department of Defense Photo (USMC) A45266 0

A gun crew from Battery L, 3d Battalion, 10th Marines, prepares to load a 155mm howitzer (towed) while conducting a live fire exercise at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, during the 1970s . Below, Marines from the 4th Battalion, 10th Marines, participate in a civil disturbance training exercise a t Camp Lejeune in October 1972 .
Department of Defense Photo (USMC)A45169 3

ticipated in North Atlantic Treaty Organization operations in the North Sea and the Mediterranean . During July 1958, rising tensions in the Middle East resulted in three battalion landing teams, with accompanying batteries from the 10th Marine s landing at Beirut . The Marines stayed in Lebano n until October. In late October 1962, the 10th Marines deployed with the 2d Marine Division during th e Cuban missile crisis . The regiment's units remained on board amphibious shipping until December. The 2d and 3d Battalions, 10th Marines, wer e among the units sent to the Dominican Republi c during April 1965, to support Marine infantry battalions assigned to restore order to the city o f Santo Domingo during political upheavals . These artillery units were set up in the vicinity of the Embajadore Hotel where American citizens were being assembled for evacuation . All elements o f the 10th Marines had left the Dominican Republi c by late May.

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Department of Defense Photo (USMC) DM-ST-91-1158 3

Marine artillerymen fire their M-198 155mm howitzer in support of the opening of the ground offensive to free Kuwait during Operation Desert Storm in February 1991 . During the war in Vietnam, the understrengt h 2d Marine Division continued to meet it s Mediterranean and Caribbean commitments , which required artillery batteries to deploy with battalion landing teams . Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the 10t h Marines continued to participate in a variety o f training exercises, including several NATO exercises in northern Europe and semi-annual firing exercises at Fort Bragg, North Carolina . Beginning in the summer of 1982, artillery batteries of the 10t h Marines were deployed to Beirut in support of th e Marine amphibious unit (MAU) serving there wit h the multinational peacekeeping force . The regiment continued to provide artillery support ove r the next 18 months to the MAUs stationed i n Beirut . In October 1983, a battery of the 10th Marines formed a provisional rifle company to take part in the successful operations agains t Communist forces on the island of Grenada . The regiment's ability to respond quickly to a crisis was tested again, this time in August 1990 , when the military forces of Iraq's Saddam Hussein invaded and occupied Kuwait . President Georg e H . Bush immediately ordered American forces , including Marines, to the Persian Gulf, to prevent a possible Iraqi invasion of Saudi Arabia . Elements of the 10th Marines began departin g Camp Lejeune on 11 December, enroute to Saud i Arabia and Operation Desert Shield . As several elements of the regiment remained either at Cam p Lejeune or on Okinawa to support other commitments, the 10th Marines was augmented by batter ies from the 12th Marines and 14th Marines, a Reserve unit . The mission of the 10th Marines dur ing Operation Desert Shield was to provide effective artillery support to the 2d Marine Division, and upon arrival in Saudi Arabia, the regiment undertook an intensive training program . On 17 January 1991, the military operation i n Southwest Asia was renamed Operation Deser t Storm with the onset of Allied offensive air operations against Iraq . The 10th Marines tactical posture soon changed from defensive to offensive, as training intensified for combat operations . On 27 January 1991, the 10th Marines fired it s

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Department of Defense Photo (USMC) DSP-94-A0026 2

Personnel from 1st Battalion, 10th Marines, off loadfrom a LCAC near the port of Cap Haitien, Haiti, during Operation Uphold Democracy in September 1994. first artillery mission against Iraqi forces, when elements of the regiment conducted an artillery rai d just east of the Al Wahfrah oil field in Kuwait . Thi s was the first offensive action by the 10th Marine s since World War II . Several days later, on 29 January, Iraqi forces commenced full-scale probing actions across the Saudi Arabian border with tank s and mechanized forces . Engagements were out o f range of 10th Marines artillery positions, which precluded the regiment's participation in th e actions. On 24 February, the Coalition forces unleashe d its major ground offensive to liberate Kuwait . Throughout the ensuing days of combat, the 10th Marines provided close and continuous fire in sup port of the 2d Marine Division . The regiment fired counter-battery missions with deadly effectivenes s when enemy targets were acquired . In one of th e most memorable artillery actions of the campaign, virtually an entire Iraqi self-propelled battalion wa s acquired on radar and eliminated by accurat e artillery fire from the 10th Marines . After the 28 February 1991 ceasefire which ended the fighting, the 10th Marines prepared to depart the Persian Gulf for home . A detachmen t from 3d Battalion, 10th Marines, remained i n Kuwait, and would later participate in Operatio n Provide Comfort in Iraq, which was designed t o provide disaster relief and establish security zone s for Kurdish refugees . However, the bulk of the regiment redeployed during April to Camp Lejeune , and a much-deserved welcome home . Throughout the remaining years of the decade , elements of the 10th Marines participated i n Operation Safe Harbor in Guantanamo Bay, Cub a (1991), and in Operations Restore Democracy , Support Democracy, and Uphold Democracy i n Haiti (1994) . The first operation provided humanitarian assistance to Haitians fleeing their country 's internal power struggles, while in the latter three operations, the regiment participated with othe r American forces in helping to restore democrac y to the strife-torn nation of Haiti. Elements of th e regiment also participated during 1994 i n Operations Able Manner and Able Vigil in the Florida Straits, which supported U .S . Navy an d Coast Guard efforts to interdict Haitian and Cuba n migrants off the Straits of Florida .

10th Marines
LINEAGE
1914 - 191 7 ACTIVATED 25 APRIL 1914 AT VERACRUZ, MEXICO, AS ARTILLERY BATTALION AND ASSIGNE D TO THE 1ST BRIGAD E RELOCATED DURING NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 1914 TO MARINE BARRACKS, ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND , AND DETACHED FROM THE 1ST MARINE BRIGAD E DEPLOYED DURING AUGUST 1915 TO PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI, AND ASSIGNED TO THE 1ST BRIGAD E REDEPLOYED DURING MAY 1916 TO SANTO DOMINGO, DOMINICAN REPUBLI C RELOCATED DURING JUNE JULY 1916 TO SANTIAGO, DOMINICAN REPUBLI C RELOCATED DURING NOVEMBER 1916 TO SANTO DOMINGO, DOMINICAN REPUBLI C REASSIGNED DURING JANUARY 1917 TO THE 2D BRIGAD E RELOCATED DURING APRIL-MAY 1917 TO QUANTICO, VIRGINIA, AND DETACHE D FROM THE 2D BRIGAD E REDESIGNATED 15 MAY 1917 AS THE 1ST FIELD ARTILLERY BATTALIO N REDESIGNATED 1 AUGUST 1917 AS THE MOBILE ARTILLERY FORCE

1918 - 1940 REDESIGNATED 15 JANUARY 1918 AS THE 10TH REGIMEN T REDESIGNATED 1 APRIL 1920 AS THE 1ST SEPARATE FIELD ARTILLERY BATTALIO N REDESIGNATED 1 JANUARY 1921 AS THE 10TH REGIMEN T PARTICIPATED IN THE GUARDING OF THE U .S . MAILS, OCTOBER 1926 - FEBRUARY 192 7 HEADQUARTERS BATTERY, 10TH REGIMENT, DEACTIVATED 24 MAY 192 7 ELEMENTS DEPLOYED TO TIENTSIN, CHINA, JUNE 1927 - OCTOBER 192 8 REDESIGNATED 10 JULY 1930 AS THE 10TH MARINE S ELEMENTS OF THE REGIMENT REMAINED ON ACTIVE DUTY, 1927 - 194 0

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1940-195 7 REACTIVATED 27 DECEMBER 1940 AT SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA,AS TH E 10TH MARINES AND ASSIGNED TO THE 2D MARINE BRIGADE 2D MARINE BRIGADE REDESIGNATED 1 FEBRUARY 1941 AS THE 2D MARINE DIVISIO N ELEMENTS DEPLOYED TO ICELAND, JUNE 1941 - MARCH 194 2 DEPLOYED DURING JANUARY-NOVEMBER 1942 TO THE SOUTH PACIFI C PARTICIPATED IN THE FOLLOWING WORLD WAR II CAMPAIGN S GUADALCANAL SOUTHERN SOLOMONS TARAW A SAIPAN TINIAN OKINAW A REDEPLOYED DURING SEPTEMBER 1945 TO NAGASAKI, JAPA N PARTICIPATED IN THE OCCUPATION OF JAPAN, SEPTEMBER 1945 - JUNE 194 6 RELOCATED DURING JUNE JULY 1946 TO CAMP LEJEUNE, NORTH CAROLIN A

1958 - 1989 ELEMENTS PARTICIPATED IN THE LANDINGS IN LEBANON,JULY-OCTOBER 195 8 PARTICIPATED IN THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS, OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 196 2 ELEMENTS PARTICIPATED IN THE INTERVENTION IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC , APRIL-JUNE 196 5 PARTICIPATED IN NUMEROUS TRAINING EXERCISES THROUGHOUT THE 1970 S ELEMENTS PARTICIPATED AS PART OF THE MULTINATIONAL PEACEKEEPING FORCES IN LEBANON , AUGUST 1982 - FEBRUARY 198 4 ELEMENTS PARTICIPATED IN THE LANDINGS ON GRENADA, OCTOBER 198 3

The device reproduced on the back cove r is the oldest military insignia in continuous use in the United States. It first appeared, as shown here, on Marine Corps buttons adopted in 1804. With the stars changed to five points, the devic e has continued on Marine Corps button s to the present day.